Cuideag
"We are all slaves in our own little ways. There is no such thing as freedom." Cuideag was a character in Overture 3. Cuideag would serve as a hidden, but main antagonist in second half of Overture 3. Most of its background was never shared outside of a few private conversations and even then, much of its story remained a mystery. Background It was during the early reign of King Malcolm Blackheart's predecessor that magic-touched babe was born to an otherwise unremarkable mother in an otherwise unremarkable logger's village deep in the thick forest that surrounds the Black Castle. As per tradition, the infant was taken when Lyeench's mark was discovered by a routine inspection by the district's Arbiters and delivered to what would become the child's family among the mage-kind. Its youth was unremarkable as per design (for the mageborn children are monitored and watched very carefully by their betters) and was only significant in that it survived its training. At ten years, every generation of mageborn are put before a ritualistic test of sorts whereby one can either succeed and earn a place among Lyeench's chosen or be sacrificed in failure. Having survived by virtue of indirectly murdering the competition, the child earned its life and was given its name: Cuideag, or 'spider' in the elder tongue. Since its trials, Cuideag has strived to live up to its honored name. Naturally cunning and brutally pragmatic, it carefully engineered its ascension through the circles step by step. Even its coveted mask was taken from the corpse of another and its titles pried off the hearts of its enemies. Despite being far from the most powerful wizard spawned by Carnetrada, it ultimately earned the title of Adjucator and was given the reigns to the village from which it came. Adjucator Cuideag's rule was marked by an increase in productivity though the population remained relatively stable. Senseless brutality, it noted once in a letter to Arbiter Lusyx under which it served, Would only stymie assimilation. Subtlety, coersion, a gentle nudge and they will eat from your hand without complaint. Some of its fellow Adjucators claimed that Cuideag was acting out of sympathy as it was entirely possible that the woman who gave it birth was still among the living, but the claims were shrugged off when the most vocal of its critics was discovered one morning with its head (sans tongue and mask) mounted on a scarecrow. It played no part in the ascension of King Malcolm but it would soon find itself closely involved with his rule. Malcolm's ambitions humbled Cuideag and it would serve loyally in any and all tasks given to it - even when Malcolm proposed what would effectively become its exile. A storm was brewing in Harracktor and the Blackheart had no intention of letting its potential go untouched. Carnetrada, who had traditionally kept to its own, would set in motion a plan to return its god, Artheemius Lyeench, to the world... and it would be Cuideag who would assist in bringing about His return. Overture 3 Cuideag would be sent to King Bukoski VII to deliver a proposal for peace between the two nations and, upon King Malcolm's arrival in Harracktor, a treaty was officially put into effect. It was left behind to serve as something of an ambasssador between the kingdoms, its magics sealed by its master as a show of good faith. Its presence was seen with little but suspicion and hostility, and it was even decreed that it could not move anywhere about the kingdom without a watchful guardsman at its side. Despite showing nothing but contempt for the people of Harracktor, Cuideag eventually settled into a home and carried on with whatever schemes it had with (usually) little note from its neighbors. It became just another part of the scenery, which was exactly its intention. Behind the locked doors of its home, plans were brewing, and ravens regularly flew between it and Carnetrada. At one point it became the master of a pair of dwarven slaves, Halim and Grimval Laft. Though it dispised the latter, it seemed to forge a strange and uncomfortable friendship of sorts with the former. When the dwarves rose in rebellion against Harracktor, Cuideag openly condemned their actions as foolish though it did not step in to save Halim from his death. In a few private conversations, it blamed itself though it never elaborated on why. When at long last Malcom's plans to resurrect Lyeench were brought into fruition, Cuideag was present at the battle in the pits beneath Carnetrada. Having seen it cast aside its most loyal servant, King Malcolm, with such disdain set within it a note of uncertainty about its faith. When all was said and done and Lyeench was banished again into the darkness, it and Malcolm were sentenced to the dreaded Vankila Saari. Some time later, reports of Cuideag's death would circulate throughout the kingdom. It had convinced a guardsman that Lyeench's return would bestow upon him untold power and wealth. They staged the wizard's death while Cuideag was set free to return to Carnetrada and conspire with what remained of the old guard. Since Malcolm's inprisonment, Harracktor had installed a new puppet king and it was vital to avoid his notice. Lyeench's corporeal form had been reborn but only a fraction of his power had come with it. In secret they conspired to gather powerful relics that would unchain him fully into the living world. The binds of its own magic undone, Cuideag set for the city of Dust where it slaughtered everyone to obtain the fabled Dragon Fang. It followed Aldous Lang in disguise and murdered him to claim the Everlasting Flame. From King James I's treasury it stole the Lightning Axe and the Seed of Life, the final two components for the ritual necessary for Lyeench's second coming. Together with its fellow mages, Cuideag unleashed the magical potential in the relics and returned Artheemius Lyeench to its full strength. At the end of the ritual, Lyeench butchered all but Cuideag, recognizing it alone as one who had given up everything just for that moment. Its pride was short lived, however, as Lyeench revealed its plans to destroy the world. It argued that its resurrection, its glory, and its triumph over the unenlightened would mean nothing in a world that could not be allowed to exist. Uncaring of his most loyal servant's pleading, Artheemius Lyeench slew Cuideag then and there with no hesitation. Its body and its mask were never recovered. Personality One does not survive long in Carnetrada if one is not ruthless and Cuideag most certainly possessed ruthlessness in spades. Most of its time in Harracktor was marked with a facination with getting the rise out of its fellows, be it through unkind japes or outright hostility. It was more than eager to remind the citizenry of Carnetrada's place over its barbaric and uncivilized neighbors (often while wistfully recalling experiments with necromancy or exploring cannibalism and so on). Never shy when it came to its opinions and rarely uncompromising on its ideals, Cuideag maintained a terse but strangely involved presence in the lives of the Harracktorians. Though it was reluctant to openly claim friendships, it did maintain a strange rivalry with Xavier Cortez of the Snake Eaters. What began as ridicule eventually grew into a grudging sort of respect for a man who was, in its opinion, unbearably foolhardy but strong in his convictions. The orc Cor'ag Sharvac often insisted that the 'goddess' Puhdas Herra revealed to him that Cuideag would soon have a child. The mage never did anything but taunt and laugh the vision off, but perhaps since then, it made a point to visit the church a little more often than it did previously. Perhaps the closest thing to a proper friendship that Cuideag ever had was with the slave, Halim. Some had even gone as far as to gossip about illicit activities between the two but nothing was ever proven. Since Halim's death, the mage - while still as venomous as ever - was still a little different. Category:Overture 3 Category:Characters Category:Carnetrada